Jason Stockley
Court St Louis (Missouri) acquitted against the former police officer Jason Stockley, who in 2011 shot and killed a black suspect, Anthony Lamar Smith. Reported by the Associated Press.
“The court cannot say that the state proved murder ( … ), or that the state proved that the defendant did not act in self-defence,” wrote in his decision, judge Timothy Wilson.
After the announcement of the verdict in this case, the city began to protest.
Stokely was charged with first-degree murder, but insisted, that he saw Smith holding a gun and felt that his life is in grave danger. The prosecution also tried to prove that the former guardian of order threw the gun to the Smith machine after the murder.
20 Dec 2011 Stockley tried to stop Smith after the alleged narcotics transaction. The man did not obey the officer and tried to escape by car. During the chase, police fired in the suspect’s car and screamed, “I’m going to kill that bastard!” After the guards managed to stop the car of the attacker, Stockley approached his car and shot five times at close range, killing Smith.